[Greenbuilding] bio fues and ethanol

Sun Apr 8 17:24:55 CDT 2007

Racheli,
No, our soy based fuel isn't organic... yet. I fully comprehend the 
footprint of our fuel and stand by the fact that, although far from perfect, 
it still affords us a more responsible footprint than any fossil fuel 
burning car. And BTW, our diesels get up to 50 MPG. I'll take our biofueled 
VW TDIs over a gas burning car of any mileage any day.

When we can obtain our biodiesel from waste stream fed algae grown in 
passive solar greenhouses we'll be well on our way. If you look into it your 
will find that modern diesel engines coupled with responsibly grown 
biofuels, the latest emissions equipment, and plug-in hybrid technology will 
be the way we get ourselves and our goods around the planet's surface for 
the next couple decades.

And BTW, most of my trips are by bike/foot these days also, haven't flown in 
about ten years and don't plan to do so, and our new home and it's location 
have us well on our way to a greatly reduced ecological footprint.

Best to you too,
Ron

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Racheli Gai" <racheli at sonoracohousing.com>
To: "'Greenbuilding Building'" <greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org>
Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2007 6:03 PM
Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] bio fues and ethanol

> Hi Ron,
> Are the soybeans grown organically? - if not, they are not only a
> result of using
> the energy of the sun, but also of application of the "Devil's Tea" and
> its by-products,
> no?  (And even with organics, use of fuel isn't completely eliminated).
>
> As to my fuel use, I driving a Prius, and my husband rides his bike to
> work.
> Most of our home-energy use is covered by our solar panels, and we're
> making
> efforts to further reduce out footprint.
> One area I've been paying attention to lately is thinking hard how to
> fly less.
> Not that I'm a huge traveller, but I'd like to cut down, and when I fly
> - find
> ways to compensate.
>
> Best,
> Racheli.
>
>
>
> On Apr 8, 2007, at 2:36 PM, RONALD CASCIO wrote:
>
>> Agreed. Our vehicular transportation fuel for the last 6 years has been
>> biodiesel. We burn about 600 gallons/year since we've moved to a small
>> town
>> were we can walk/bike to just about everything we need. Our biodiesel
>> life
>> cycle goes like this;
>>
>>     Farmers within a 120 mile radius capture solar energy with their
>> soybean
>> crop, which goes to the Purdue Farms bean crusher 15 miles west of here
>> where they harvest the meal of the bean for chicken         feed, then
>> the
>> byproduct oil heads 15 miles east where it is processed into biodiesel
>> in
>> our town's production facility 1.8 miles from our front door.
>>
>> Someone kindly explain to me how our use of biodiesel is more
>> destructive
>> than the way our civilization has co-opted the hundreds of millions of
>> years
>> life cycle of petroleum, it's extraction, shipping, refining, burning
>> and
>> it's release of hydrocarbons into the atmosphere... and all the blood
>> involved in one way or another.
>>
>> Sure, biofuels are not a panacea to our transportation fuel dilemma
>> but it
>> is a major step in the right direction of the long and hard path we are
>> going to have to embark on. The madness of mankind's deadly addiction
>> to the
>> Devil's Tea is not an option in my book.
>>
>> BTW... Dan and Tim Keating, what fuels your cars?
>>
>>
>> Ron Cascio
>> Chestnut Creek
>> Design/Build/Consult/Develop
>> Maryland's Eastern Shore
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Steve T" <progressivepenguin at gmail.com>
>> To: <greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org>
>> Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2007 1:35 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] bio fues and ethanol
>>
>>
>>> I agree that some can see only black or white when it comes to Green
>>> or
>>> Sustainable technology like biofuel, wind power or home building.  It
>>> tends
>>> to make discussions a little more animated.
>>>
>>> On 4/8/07, Tim Martens <timandgwen at sympatico.ca> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Guys.......no one claimed that biofuels were a panacea. I submit
>>>> though,
>>>> that, they are way better than  fossil fuels on so many levels. Your
>>>> submissions make people think that bio fuels are bad. If people are
>>>> willing
>>>> to pay for a commodity, others will do what ever it takes to provide
>>>> it.  You don't think that fossil fuel exploration and greenhouse
>>>> gases
>>>> might
>>>> have displaced or killed a few people?
>>>>
>>>> With bio fuels, it's not the product but how it's being produced
>>>> that is
>>>> causing the problem.  Fossil fuels, on the other hand, are just plain
>>>> bad.
>>>> At least we are going in the right direction.
>>>>
>>>> A motorized vehicle-less society....now there's an answer.
>>>>
>>>> Tim Martens
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -- 
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>>
>>
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>>
>
>
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>      publisher of Environmental Building News and GreenSpec(r)
> Hosted and archived by REPP / CREST http://www.crest.org
>
>
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